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They were six friends from the Midwest who moved to New York City with high hopes of making it big in the music industry. Although the dream had faded, they had all remained friends -- or so it seemed. One brilliant day, two of the group were shot in an apartment for which they all had duplicate keys. — A riveting suspense story about the emotion... more »al aftermath of murder -- the jealousy and hatred, the deception and rage, and the shocking secrets that lie between even the closest of friends.« less

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AT LEAST MAKE THEM BELIEVABLE
I've read numerous books lately where there just doesn't seem to be any editing happening. No matter the illustrious past works of an author, someone should view these unnecessarily long-winded books before they reach the public. Or maybe they figure we want our money's worth, so they'll just leave in all those extraneous words.
The story could have been more suspenseful. It just dragged on and on. The main character Alice was the most changeable I've encountered in memory. I never could get a fix on her. One minute she was docile and wimpy, the next assertive and bitchy. Finding your murdered friends might well disconcert a person, but, come on, would their basic nature change every few paragraphs? Life's just too short to spend reading a 300+ page novel when I've seen better made-for-TV movies on Lifetime.

Awful, just plain awful. I really tried to find something about this book that I liked because the back cover just made is sound so interesting. Sadly, I couldn't even get 1/2 way through the darn thing.

This book is very suspenseful & the list of possible suspects of a double murder kept me interested the entire time. The various characters were mostly from the mid-West and had moved to New York City. They made new friends but still spent a lot of time together, so the list of suspects is about 6-8, which kept the police busy. The main character is a very engaging woman who works at the main library and who likes to trust people. This does put her in harms way, and I cheered for her the whole length of the novel. The settings and characters held my interest, as I think it would for you too.

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Alice Ellis is a refugee from the Midwest living in Manhattan. Still recovering from a painful divorce, Alice depends on the companionship and camaraderie of a circle of tightly knit friends. At the center of this circle is a struggling rock band trying to navigate New York City's erratic music scene, and an apartment/practice space with approximately fifty key-holders. One day, Alice enters the apartment and finds two of the band members shot dead.

As the double murder sends shock waves throughout all their lives, this group of friends begins to unravel, and dangerous secrets begin to be revealed one by one. When Alice begins to notice things amiss in her own apartment, she realizes that she's not the only person with a key, and that she might not get a chance to change the locks before something happens to her.

I enjoyed this book and was hooked in to trying to discover who the murderer was. I found that although the plot was slightly dated for being written in 1984, it was still a great story that showed off what a talent Jane Smiley is an author. I give this book an A! and have placed several more books by Jane Smiley on my Wish List.

Manhattan and the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens are unusual settings for Smiley, but still the characters are all Midwesterners. Murder, the music businesss, are also new, but still there is that talent for drawing real characters. A whodinit with a difference.